This invention relates to a programming aid device for computer output and, more specifically, to a device for aiding in the interpretation of fields of data in a computer programming printout.
One of the problems in making problem determinations with respect to computer printouts is to be able to rapidly select a particular row of the computer printout and then to interpret the hexidecimal (hex) characters of the record contained in the selected row. Heretofore, masking devices have been employed containing one or more clear transparent slots through which exposed rows of character printout may be viewed. These devices are moved over a sheet of computer printout to block out printed matter, except that of the row to be selected. An objection to this type of device is the difficulty in locating the desired row due to obscuring the reference material above and below the row to be viewed. Another type of prior masking device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,739 provides lightly tinted areas adjacent to a clear transparent slot to allow viewing rows adjacent to the desired row and thereby aid in rapidly selecting the desired row. However, in both cases, the device is merely an aid in selecting the desired row of the computer printout. To interpret the hex characters of the record in the selected row, the user would have to first look up information pertaining to the format of the selected record, then obtain an offset value to locate the particular field of interest in the selected record, count over to the offset, read off the value in the particular field and again look up information to interpret that field. This interpretive information may span many pages of a manual and be co-mingled with a lot of other information. The user might have to keep his fingers in several places within a manual to make sense of the information in the computer printout. The problem determination effort then becomes time consuming and is susceptible to error in interpretation because of having to look in many different places for the information. Another type of masking device that has been employed is illustrated in the IBM 8100 Information System distributed Procesing Programming Executive Base Problem Determination Reference Summary, Form No. SX27-0026-0 published in May 1980. This device consists of a paper template, the edge of which acts as a straight edge and the body of which acts as a blind to block out undesired rows of the computer printout. The template is formed as a multi-page foldout from a manual which makes it awkward for use in scanning the rows of a computer printout. A portion of a record format is printed on one edge of the paper foldout and the fields along the edge are used to exactly match the fields of the computer printout. Interpretive data is provided on different folds of the paper template pointed to by arrow directed lines which criss-cross each other to tables of data. Again, such an arrangement is awkward and confusing and does not make for ease of use. Likewise, there is no easy eye-catching way of lining up the edge of the template with the computer printout.